Seven
by PomKat
Summary: COMPLETE! Epilouge added. It's the first case that's left nightmares screaming in his head for nights on end. He can't think straight, he hardly eats anymore. If they don't solve this case soon, he's not sure what he'll do.
1. Prolouge

-1

Her heart thudded against her chest and she was sure that anyone within a two-mile radius could hear it. Her finger twitched over the trigger of her gun as she struggled to keep it in her sweaty grip. And all she could think was, _Oh Christ, Oh Christ. Please be alright. Please._

She rounded the corner and the dark pounced on her, surrounded her. She fumbled for the small flashlight in her pocket and quickly flicked it on as she brought it up to hold beside her weapon. She proceeded forward, not actually sure of where she was going, not actually aware of where she had been. There was only one thing on her mind.

_Oh Christ, Oh Christ. Please be alright. Please._

That's when she stumbled upon it; the motionless lump huddled in the corner of the dark room. She lowered her weapon, rushed forward. As she crouched near the figure, there was only one thought rushing through her head. _Oh Christ, Oh Christ. Please be alright. Please._

Holstering her weapon, she muscled the lump onto it's back, checked for a pulse. Nothing. She ripped out her phone, dialed. "Officer down!" she screamed, not sure what else to say. "Officer down!" After a moment, she regained her senses and spat out her location, snapped the phone shut.

And as she put her shaking hands on the figure's chest and began CPR, the voice in her head screamed, _Oh Christ, Oh Christ. Please be alright. Please._


	2. Luxuria

-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (

A/N: I'll probably never finish this story. I'm just so lazy and if I get not feedback, what's the point?

---

**2 Weeks Before**

They drove in silence. Detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames knew the scene they were approaching wouldn't be easy to take in. Wouldn't be easy to solve. But they _would_ take it in and they _would_ solve it.

Alex parked in front of the yellow police tape and they both stepped out. A uniformed officer sat at the base of a large, red-bricked building, his head in his knees and his face looking slightly green. Alex knelt by him, put a hand on his back, something that caused him to look up. "You the first on scene?" she asked as her partner slipped into the house.

Bobby followed his nose, quite literally, to the crime scene. The smell of death was strong, no one could mistake it's pungent scent.

He entered a bedroom, glanced around at the CSUs who were already hard at work. He made his way around the large bed and hissed through his teeth at the picture laid out before him.

A woman was propped against a chair and her hands were posed, as if praying, on it's seat. Her army of curls fell down her bare back like sunrays. Her eyes were closed and her face was pale from the death that had set in long ago. In front of her laid a small baby, the umbilical cord still running from his belly to the large slice in his mother's abdomen. Written in blood above their heads was a single word: Luxuria. Bobby cursed under his breath, snapped on a pair of protective gloves and kneeled down beside the deceased.

He was carefully studying the surgical cut across the woman's neck when Alex walked in.

"Oh sweet Christ." He listened as she slapped a hand over her mouth and turned to stumble out of the room. He could hardly blame her, as at the moment, his own stomach was churning.

A good twenty minutes later, Bobby carefully peeled off the blood-slicked gloves and tossed them into an evidence bag so that they could be tested later. He slipped out of the room and walked to where Alex sat across from the building's landlord; the man who had found the young mother and her child.

"Those are all the questions I have for right now. I'll call you if I need anything else." She pulled a card from her pocket, handed it to him. "You call me if you there's anything else you can remember." Alex rose with the man, patted his thin back comfortingly as he left the room. She turned and nearly collided with Bobby's broad chest. Stepping back, she said, "Sorry I left you in there with. . . _that_. I just couldn't -"

"It's okay." Bobby gave her shoulder a quick reassuring squeeze.

Alex took a breath in, nodded. She looked down at the notepad in her hand and read, "Victim is Clarissa Matthew, 26. She's had a few arrest. Drug possession, prostitution."

"Makes sense," Bobby mused aloud.

"What?"

"_Luxuria_. Lust in Latin. It was written on the wall. She was a prostitute."

"Ah. One of the seven deadly sins. A religious killer. He's on a mission." Alex shook her head, handed Bobby her notes so that he could study them.

"That means he won't stop until he's finished."

"Or until we throw some cuffs on him."


	3. Messenger

Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (

A/N: Gosh, I'm getting all these wonderful reviews! I feel so happy! Please, keep reviewing and I'll keep writing! Oh, and if I offend anyone with my use of religion in this story, I'm terribly sorry. It's just a story and the views expressed in it are fictional.

---

"_Luxuria_, Lust; _Gula_, Gluttony; _Avaritia_, Greed; _Acedia_, Sloth; _Ira_, Wrath; _Invidia_, Envy; _Superbia_, Pride; the seven deadly sins according to the Roman Catholic Church."

"One down, six to go," Alex commented tartly as she watched Bobby flip through an ancient book he'd managed to scrounge up at the library.

"Not if we can help it." Bobby jotted down something in the notepad beside him, then shut the large book, sending a puff of dust swirling into the air.

He raised a cupped hand and rubbed it over the back of his neck, trying to relieve the tension that was slowly creeping it's way there. He sighed, leaned back in his chair. "I think we can safely rule out that this wasn't a murder done by an ex-lover or a pimp. Our victim was picked at random out of a hat of sinners, stalked, killed."

Alex nodded, turned to her computer. "I'll see if we have anybody with a prior arrest that has anything to do with religion." Her fingers danced wildly over the keys as her partner tried to slip into the mind of a murderer.

The phone rang, causing Bobby to look over. He gave Alex a stare, and when he realized that she wasn't going to answer it, he rolled his dark eyes and reached over to pick it up himself.

"Hello, Detective Goren." a voice said before Bobby could speak.

Confused and slightly intrigued, the detective sat up in his chair. "Hello."

"I'm glad they've put such a worthy detective on my case."

"Excuse me?"

"What were you thinking about when you saw her? What did you think of her? I thought she was a whore. A dirty, dirty whore that needed to be punished by God." Bobby leaned over his desk, snatched up a pen and a small pad of sticky notes. He scribbled the word _trace_ over the top of one and threw it at his partner. She gave it a glance and flipped open her cell phone.

"And I did punish her. Perfectly. Don't you think, detective?" the man on the other line asked.

"What about the unborn baby you killed?"

"Killed? I saved that child from being born into a whore's life," the man hissed. "Good-bye, detective."

And silence.

Bobby cursed, all but slammed the phone back on the hook. He looked over at Alex, who was still chattering away on her cell phone.

"Eames," he said, shook his head. "Lost him."

Alex gave him a sympathetic look, thanked the person on the other line, and hung up. "Two more minutes and we would have had 'em." She paused. "Who was is, exactly?"

"Our killer." At Alex's raised of eyebrows, he continued, "He told me about the victim. Said how she was a whore and that he was saving her baby from a whore's life when he killed it.

"Sick."

"He thinks he's doing the work of God."

"I hate when people use God as an excuse to make their killings _righteous_," Alex spat, turned to her computer. "I've got a guy who pops. Barry Waltz, 41. Been arrested for protesting on private property, beating on a gay, blah, blah, blah." She scanned the screen in front of her. "Maybe this is our guy.

"Shall we go pay Barry a visit then?"

---

Half an hour later, Bobby lingered next to Barry Waltz, his suit replaced with a pair of old jeans and a faded red t-shirt, his gun and badge safely stashed away in the breezy jacket he wore. He listened as Barry and a group of other protestors shouted about how a Richard Urks and a Liam Thompson should be released from prison.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Bobby asked, catching Barry's attention immediately.

"The unlawful imprisonment of two righteous mean! They were doing God's work!" he shouted, his words more intended to pump up the crowd rather than answer the detective's question.

"Oh, I see. And what part of God's work were they doing?" Bobby prodded, purposely stepping into the other man's line of sight.

Barry Waltz was a large man that almost reached Bobby's six foot four. He had wiry, ginger hair and a short beard that was sprinkled with gray. His eyes, dark and beady, glared at the undercover detective. His face was normally pale, but the shouting and the heat caused it to turn a dark shade of pink.

"They killed people not worthy to be in God's presence! They are helping us all!"

"I thought one of the ten commandments was _'Thou shalt not kill.'_"

They only did what the Lord told them to do! They were obeying his holy commands!"

"So, God told them to kill innocent people?"

"Dirty, unholy people! They were hardly innocent!"

"Doesn't God love all his children?"

"Not the sinners and the unworthy!"

"I don't remember that being in the Bible."

"Don't act like you know the Lord! You're just an unworthy sinner like the ones that died!"

He saw it coming, allowed it to happen. Barry's hand curled into a fist, pulled back, swung forward. Stars exploded in front of Bobby's eyes as he stumbled back a step from the fist that had connected with his jaw. Regaining himself quickly, he saw as his partner muscled her way through the crowd and positioned herself between the two men.

"Assaulting a police officer?" she asked as Bobby flashed his badge towards the other man. "That's a federal offense."

It took the both of them to wrestle Barry into a pair of handcuffs and into the SUV. He shouted out the Lord's Prayer as Alex shouted out his rights.

---

"You can't keep me here!" Barry hollered once seated in one of the interrogation rooms. "Where's my lawyer? I want my lawyer!"

"You're lawyers coming," Bobby replied softly as he straightened the stack of papers in his hands. "Just calm down."

Alex, who had insisted on being the bad cop, sat beside her partner, her arms crossed across her chest and a scowl placed on her face. "You like killing people, Waltz?" she asked angrily as she sat up. She snatched the photo from the top of Bobby's papers and slammed it on the table in front of Barry. The pale corpse of Clarissa Matthew stared up at him. "You like killing mothers and their unborn children?" Beside Clarissa, she laid down the picture of the woman's dead son.

Barry stared for a moment, blinked for a few more. He thrust the photos away and glared over at the female detective. "I didn't do that," he said, calmly at first. His voice then grew louder, more desperate. "I didn't do that!"

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Alex inquired as she collected the photos and handed them back to Bobby. "You have an alibi for last night? Oh, let's say, around three?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I do!" he exclaimed, leaning forward. "I was in bed! Asleep!"

"Can anyone verify that?" Bobby put in.

Barry stopped his fidgeting as his beady eyes darted between the two detectives. "N-no."

Alex nodded. "Thought so."

The door to the small room swung open and a short woman with a fiery mass of curly red hair stepped in. "Sorry to break up your little party, but I need to talk to my client. Out, detectives."

Bobby rose along side his partner. Together, they walked out on their suspect and into the observation room.

"That was fun," Alex commented as she poured them both a cup of coffee.

Bobby muttered a "thank you" when she handed him the cup. Then said, "You're good at being the bad cop. You should keep at it."

Captain Daniel Ross cleared his throat, catching the two detective's attention. "Think he's our guy?"

Bobby shook his head. "He likes yelling at people, maybe throwing a few punches. He'll stand up for a murder he thinks is righteous, but actually killing someone is something he has never done and will never do."

"So, you're saying we have no suspects?" Ross asked dryly.

"There's lots of suspects," Bobby replied with a scowl. "We just have to find the right one."


	4. Gula

Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. :(

A/N: Okay, so I realized that the last chapters have been relatively short, so I'm going to try to lengthen this one a bit. But of course, if you guys like reading short chapters then tell me! I would be more than grateful to keep them small:)

Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing!

---

"You didn't sleep last night, either?" Alex asked her partner as she settled herself behind her desk for the first time that warm summer morning. She pulled the blueberry bagel in her hand apart, handed one half of it to Bobby. With a half smile, he took it and thanked her.

"It won't take him long to go out and strike again," Bobby explained as he sat back in his seat and picked at the bagel. "Maybe a day or two." He paused, started again quickly. "Maybe he'll only wait a few more hours. He doesn't want anything to get in the way of completing his mission." He drummed his fingers over the top of the desk, chewed on his tongue.

"And how did you figure that out? From the 30 second phone call you had with him yesterday?" Alex questioned sarcastically as she shuffled through the pile of paperwork on her desk.

"I've been thinking. I've been trying to think like him. He's very religious. He might go to church. Maybe not. I doubt he has a family. He wouldn't kill a mother and her child if he had a family." Bobby clucked his tongue, sat forward. With a frustrated sigh, he jumped to his feet. "I need some coffee. You want some?"

Alex nodded and watched him go. She shook her head, wishing he would settle down and relax for once.

Then again, how could you relax with murder lurking around every dark corner?

Bobby returned a few minutes later, sat Alex's coffee down on her desk and then did the same with his own. He was pacing by the time the phone rang. The female detective reached for it, but her hand was quickly slapped away. "It might be him," Bobby said in a hushed voice. "Get the trace ready." Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. "Goren."

"Was it him?" Alex asked as he hung up the phone a few moments later.

"No. He got another one."

---

Walter Beltzer had lived a happy life. He resided in a big house on a big hill with big cars and a big swimming pool in the big backyard. He was a large, round man with a red face and a shiny, bald head. He wore nice clothes and had nice things. Walter was loved by many, hated by very few. And currently, he was propped against a cushioned chair, his hands folded in prayer, his head lowered against his chest. Walter Beltzer was dead.

He had been stripped down to nothing. He was born with nothing and he would die with nothing. His throat had been sliced from one side to the other and his fingers had been cut clean off. Above his head, written in his blood on the gray-painted wall was what had killed him.

_Gula._

"Gluttony." Bobby grinded his teeth as he stood to study the word. He stepped forward, ran his protectively gloved fingers over it. Dry.

Alex walked into the room, watched her partner silently rage war on himself for a moment before she cleared her throat and spoke, "Our victim was found by the maid at oh-nine-hundred this morning. She called the police immediately afterwards. Detective Jack Gordon was first on scene and thought it matched the MO of our murder. He is happy to hand over the case."

Bobby nodded his head to show he acknowledged her. Then motioned her forward. "He was killed on the bed. There's a little blood splatter on the nightstand, but the sheets aren't here and the carpet has been cleaned."

"Why would he do that?"

"I think he respects them. The ones he's killed, I mean. He wants them to be found in their natural surroundings with nothing out of place or unusual." Bobby shook his head in the positive, agreeing with himself, and turned to Alex. "The instrument used to cut off the fingers and slice the throat was sharp, no ridges. He did each of the fingers individually, right down to the knuckle. Not like other killers who take them all off in one slice. The victim was approached from the back by his attacker. No defensive wounds, he didn't struggle. Probably didn't see it coming. The killer just grabbed on and slashed. Same with Matthew. And the cut on her stomach was very precise. He knew just where to slice to get the baby out without harming the body in any other way."

"A doctor, then?" Alex asked as she scribbled down notes onto the small pad of paper in her hand.

"Maybe. Probably."

"Let's go find out then."

---

"See if there are any MOs that match ours," Bobby said as he watched the monitor of the computer screen from over his partner's shoulder. "Start out small. In the surrounding states."

Fingers clicked over the keyboard as information dashed across the screen. Alex leaned back, studied as Bobby did the same. "A little under a dozen murders that involve the victims dying from a cut across the throat. All of them involved the victims posed as if in prayer. Last murder took place in early February." Alex chewed on her bottom lip, squinted her eyes. "So, our killer's had practice before he decided to take it to the Big Apple."

"Now do a search on doctors. Baby doctors. See if any have moved here within the last few months." Bobby glanced over the words on the screen as Alex brought up another search on doctors.

"Only a handful of OB/GYNs that have moved in state within the last six months. We going to interview them all?"

"We may have to."

Bobby's head snapped over at the phone rang. Already knowing what to do, Alex flipped on her phone and started to call up a trace.

"Goren."

"Hello again, detective. He fit the sin just perfectly, didn't he? I killed him just perfectly, didn't I?" the man on the other end said, his voice eerily bright. "I know you agree with me, detective."

"Sorry, I don't agree with murderers. Never have, never will." Bobby had to keep him talking. At least until the trace became effective. "Why did you do it this time?"

"He was so fat. Physically, mentally, emotionally. He craved things he didn't need and he got them. A fat, dirty sinner. That's all he was in life. That's all he'll be in death."

"What's your name?"

The man snickered. "I have no name. But you can call me 'The Messenger'. I have to go now, detective. I look forward to our next encounter."

There was a click and then silence. Bobby hung up, turned when Alex snapped her phone shut. "A payphone a few blocks up," she said in a hurry as she snatched her and her partner's jacket off the coat rack behind their desks. "Let's go."

---

"Drop the phone and put your hands in the air," Alex commanded to the spiky-haired boy in front of her.

The boy looked over, stared down the barrel of her gun, and threw his hands up, sending the receiver of the phone flying. "I didn't do anything!" he cried desperately as Alex ripped him away from the payphone by the collar of his shirt. "I didn't do anything!"

Bobby motioned forward one of the officers who lingered behind him. "Call CSU. I need this phone dusted for prints."

---

"Nothing except the kids prints. Killer must have wiped it clean," Alex commented, handing the document in her hand to Bobby.

He threw the papers onto his desk without looking at them. "Five minutes. We missed him by five minutes."

Alex sighed, patted his back. "We'll catch him soon," she said reassuringly and went to sit at her desk. There, she pulled up the search she had so carelessly tossed away at the ringing of a phone and scanned over it. "Here's someone who clicks. Richard Nelson, 35. Transferred to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center from Christ Hospital in New Jersey." She looked up at her partner as he rounded the desk to peer over her shoulder at the computer screen. "Jersey was where the most recent victim was found. Less that five months ago. Says here that Nelson transferred a little over three."

"Let's go get him, then."

---

"I didn't know the Major Case Squad handled speeding tickets," Richard Nelson said sarcastically as he leaned back in the aluminum chair of the interrogation room. He was a man that didn't quite equal up to Bobby's height, but wasn't down to Alex's level. His wavy, medium brown hair was swept away from his strong-angled face and his eyes were dark and sharp. He was lean with a small amount of muscle prodding at his thin sweater, his skin was tanned and tough.

"Yeah, it was just certified in our last departmental meeting," Alex replied sardonically as she took a seat across from the man along with her partner.

"Cute, detective." Richard rolled his eyes, then focused and narrowed them on Bobby. "Can we just get down to what I'm really here for?"

"Have it your way then." Bobby folded his hands on the tabletop in front of him. "Where were you Tuesday morning around 3am?"

"Hm, Tuesday around three. . ." Richard tapped his finger on his chin and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, as if flipping through a mental day planner. "Ah, yes. Mrs. Adera went into labor around then. I delivered her a bouncing baby boy. You can check with the nurses," he added at their skeptical glares.

"And today? 6am?"

"I woke up at 5:30. Showered, ate breakfast. I was at the hospital by 6:30. Is that all detectives? The overly pregnant Mrs. Freeze is do to arrive at the hospital any minute."

"Yes, that's it. You're free to go." Bobby pulled himself up, tucked his binder under his arm. "Oh, Mr. Nelson, one more question."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Are you a Christian?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Bobby opened the door, let his partner slip out before he did the same.

"I'll check with the hospital, see if Nelson was where he said he was," Alex said once they had cleared the room. "Even if it was true, he'd only be alibied for one murder. His house is only a thirty minute drive from where Beltzer lived. And he could. . ."

"Have a partner," Bobby finished, then looked over at her while nodding his head. "Yeah, he could have had a partner. Hey, did you notice that he didn't ask why we were questioning him? Most people practically _need_ to know before they start answering."

"It's probably because he already knew."


	5. Two

-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. :(

A/N: Just a quick little chapter I wanted to get up before the night ended. :) Sorry it's short. The next chapter will be longer! Please excuse any grammatical errors, I was in a rush. Enjoy!

---

It thrills me to watch them scurry around. "Like chickens with their heads chopped off," as mama used to say.

These detectives are not as good as everyone says. Not at all. The female is just lazy. Hardly doing a thing except interviewing witnesses and clicking on that keyboard all day. The male is the harder worker, _of course_. But even then, he is barely making any headway.

They think they can outwit me. They think they can find me. They're wrong. They're all wrong. This is one mystery the detectives won't be able to solve.

And as God as my witness, this will be Robert Goren's and Alexandra Eames' very last case.

---

Bobby wasn't sure what woke him first: the annoying buzzing of his cell phone or the screaming of the nightmare in his head. Sitting up, he reached for the device on his nightstand and flipped it open. He listened for a minute before he slammed it shut, cursed, and went to throw on his clothes.

---

_Avaritia, Acedia._

_Greed, Sloth._

Bobby hovered over the bodies of Edwardo and Maria Sanchez and the only thing he could concentrate on was what his mind was yelling at him, _He's going too fast! You're going too slow! There are only seven deadly sins and he's up to four! Dammit, why haven't you thrown him in jail already!?_

Five days, four bodies.

Tugging at his hair, Bobby turned and all but stormed out of the room. He found his partner in the living area with a young woman.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious lately?" Alex asked and scribbled into her notebook when the tearful eyed woman shook her head 'no'.

Bobby took a seat next to Alex, picked up the pace. "You're related to Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez?"

The dark-haired woman nodded, then blew her nose into the waded up tissue she held. "Maria is my sister. Eddie is my brother-in-law."

Even though he knew his partner had already asked, Bobby couldn't wait and questioned, "When and what time did you find them?"

"When I woke up to go to the bathroom. Maybe around four. We went partying last night - I've never really been out on a Saturday night, so they decided to take me - and we all just crashed here around two this morning. Anyway, I was walking past their bedroom to go to the guest bedroom and I just wanted to peek inside and see if they were alright. And that's when I found them." She wiped the fresh tears from her flushed cheeks. "Who did this to them? Who could possibly hurt them? They're so nice, they've never hurt anyone."

"I know this is hard, Isabelle, but please try to answer a few more questions," Alex put in, sympathy swimming in her voice.

"Is your sister religious, Isabelle?" Bobby asked, leaning forward.

"No. She stopped believing in God a long time ago. When she was a teenager, I think. No one really knew why. What does that have to do anything?" Her brown eyes grew wide. "Did someone kill my sister because she was an atheist?"

Ignoring the question, Bobby rose. "Thank you. We'll be in touch."

Once an officer had lead Isabelle away, Alex stood beside her partner. "Why did you ask that?"

"Acedia, Sloth. It was written above the female's head. Dante Alighieri described Sloth as the 'failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul'. I need you to run Edwardo. See if he has any arrests for burglary."

---

"Edwardo Sanchez was arrested several times for burglary and the sale of stolen goods. You hit the nail on the head. As always." Alex handed the newly printed papers to her partner. He glanced over them, then tucked them into his binder.

"Thanks," he muttered, then sat back to rub his hand over his chin. The unshaven hair there tickled his palm until he finally let his hand drop to his lap. "We should hit the club the Sanchez's partied at last night. Maybe people there have some answers."

---

People there did have answers.

A thin girl with a choppy cap of black hair was rudely pulled out of bed by the two detectives. She squinted at them through sleepy green eyes and tried as best as she could to answer their questions between giant yawns.

"Yeah, I saw those two last night," she said after she had glanced at the photos in Alex's hands.

"Did you see anyone watching them? Maybe following them after they left?" Bobby asked.

The woman, Rachel, chewed on her lip while thinking. A few seconds passed before she nodded. "Yeah. This one guy. He was hot. He watched them from the table in the corner. He didn't talk to anyone, didn't order anything. Just sat there and stared at those people while they dance. He left with them too. I thought he was friends with them or something, you know, the wallflower of the group."

"Is this him?" Alex held up a photo, and Rachel nodded.

"Yup, that's him."

---

"It's not even enough for a search warrant let alone an arrest," ADA Ron Carver snapped to the detectives after they had finished giving their report. "Richard Nelson was at the same club at the same time the Sanchez's were. Coincidence. _That's all_."

Bobby blew out a breath of air, rolled his chocolate eyes. "Nelson had no alibi for the Beltzer murder, and he was positively identified at Fat Baby, _leaving_ when the Sanchez's left." He slammed his hand down on the table, leaned forward. "Once we find his partner - the one who killed Matthew - we'll have him."

"And what if he has no partner, detective? Then what? Nelson was at the hospital for the time of Matthew's murder, he was doing his daily morning routines during Beltzer's murder, he _happened_ to be at the same club the Sanchez's were at and he'll probably by alibied for that murder also. That's what his lawyers are going to say if you arrest him. _You have no evidence._" He stood, walked for the door. "If you get me something sturdy, we might be able to work something out."

After the door had slammed shut behind the Assistant District Attorney, Alex narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder who's side he's on," she hissed and collected her things.

"Let's go pay Nelson a visit, see what he really did after he left Fat Baby."

---

"Mr. Nelson!" Bobby exclaimed as the doctor closed the door behind him and started down the hall of his apartment building. The man turned, narrowed his eyes at the two detectives.

"You two again. What do you want this time?" Richard's stride never faltered even as Bobby and Alex sprinted to close the distance between them.

"Just a few more tiny questions." Bobby jumped forward into the other man's path, stopping him cold.

"Well, hurry it along. I've got someone waiting on me." Richard snaked around the male detective and into the elevator.

"Where were you from one thirty to three this morning?" Alex broke in as she and her partner hopped into the elevators before the heavy metal doors closed.

"Clubbing with friends. I think I hit Dark Room, Max Fish, some other places. I don't know, I can't remember. Why are you asking me this?" Frustrated, Richard cracked his knuckles and watched as the display screen in the elevator clicked down to nine.

"How about Fat Baby? Did you go there?" Bobby questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably. Why are you asking me this?" he said again, turned his pretty face to glare at Bobby and Alex.

"Were you associated with Edwardo and Maria Sanchez?"

"I'm _associated_ with a lot of people," Richard snapped. "Some of which I can't remember by name." Bobby pulled out two pictures, showed them to the doctor. "No, I don't know those two."

Alex's eyebrows raised in that odd sarcastic manner of her's. "Oh really? Because the bartender at Fat Baby said that you watched them all night and even left with them."

"Right. Interesting. I don't remember." It clicked down to two.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nelson?" Bobby asked as the elevator doors swung open.

"Yeah, and you two just made me late for our date," Richard said with a grind of teeth as he stormed out of the elevator and out of sight.


	6. Desperate

-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (

A/N: Okay, maybe you guys are wondering why I post so many chapters in such a short amount of time. It's because when I read a story on a site, like I hate waiting months on end for one single chapter to go up. So I decided to not let you guys suffer through the same anticipation. : ) Aren't I just so sweet?

Anyway, here's the next chapter. You'll get a small glance into what happened to the Sanchez's after they were murdered. Enjoy!

---

The call came over Bobby's cell phone this time.

As he and Alex slipped into the SUV, the device in this pocket chimed and screamed for him to answer. Not really thinking as to who was calling him, Bobby pulled it out and flipped it open. "Goren."

"Detective, hello. Sorry about the long pause between the ridding of sinners. I was. . . busy." The man on the other side of the phone allowed himself to snicker before he started again. "It was fun killing them. Seeing the expression on their faces the second they realized they were gone. The female's layout was perfect. No mouth to speak ill about the Lord, no eyes to see the evils she loved. The male's hands were very rough. From all the theft he had done. Sinner. Dirty, dirty sinners."

_Click._

Silence.

Bobby hissed out a curse, shut the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "Him again," he said when the female detective gave him a perplexed look.

Alex glanced over at her partner as she drove. His graying hair stood in short tufts on his head from the constant pulling and tugging of it. His brown eyes were red-rimmed and sleepy, and even though he hadn't shaved in a few days, the dark bruise that fluttered along his jawbone was still quite visible and so un-Bobby like.

Something deep inside her took Alex's stomach and twisted it into several tight knots. With her tongue in her cheek, she asked, "Hey, wanna go get something to eat? I know this great sandwich place just a few blocks from here."

Never one to disappoint, Bobby gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and nodded. "Sure."

Alex tried to beam back, but to see her partner, _her best friend_, in the state he was in just sucked all of the happiness out of her and shoved it down the toilet.

For the past six years, Alex had never seen her partner like he was now. She had witnessed his temper tantrums, comforted him when he was sad, and laughed with him when they both need it the most. They had been through it all, thick and thin. The Golden Couple of Major Case Squad, as people so affectionately referred to them as. But as her partner leaned back against the seat and closed his weary eyes, she wondered why she couldn't help him. Couldn't connect with him, feel what he was feeling, as she always had been able to do so easily before.

What were the Golden Couple of the Major Case Squad coming to?

Alex pulled off to the curb and cut the engine. She stepped out of the SUV and walked to wait for Bobby at the entrance to the small restaurant. For a change, she was the one to pull open the door for her partner and allow him to slip in before she did the same herself.

They took a seat next to the window. Alex ordered a small turkey club while Bobby settled for a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Alex watched as he absently span the plastic spoon around in the thick liquid. His eyes were blind to the world as he picked through the thoughts in his head.

Alex, who was slowly losing her appetite, pushed her sandwich away and tapped her finger on the table, catching the man's attention. "What're you thinking about?" she asked.

"The Matthew murder." Bobby sat the spoon down and leaned forward, folding his hands on the table; Alex's signal that it was her time for her listen. "Nelson's partner might be doctor. Probably is. An OB/GYN. The cut in Matthew's stomach was precise, the work of a professional.

"Maybe Nelson told his partner how and where to cut prior to the killing," Alex suggested.

"No. There would have been some signs of hesitation. There weren't."

Alex chewed on her tongue for a moment, then spoke. "Maybe the partner killed while Nelson was at the hospital. When he finished up there, he came over and did the choppy choppy."

"I was thinking that, too." Bobby nodded. "We should check with the ME about the slices on the throat once more. See if there are any differences between the four of them.

Excited, Bobby picked up his spoon and downed a bit of the soup. Alex rolled eyes even though there was a smile playing on her pretty lips. "It's creepy how murder excites you."

Bobby grinned and shook his head in the negative. "It's the thought of putting the bad guys in jail that gets me pumped."

---

"Matthew and Maria's cuts were both done by a left-handed person. As you can see, the entrance of the knife was on the right, the killer then dragged it over to the left." Medical Examiner Jeffery Rinehart explained as he motioned to the enlarged images that were pinned up on the bulletin board behind him. "Beltzer and Edwardo's were done with the right hand. See, left to right."

"Nelson is right handed," Bobby commented softly to his partner while rubbing a hand over the stubble on his chin.

"I wonder if his girlfriend's a lefty," Alex added.

"What about the stomach? Can you identify - "

"Already done, Detective Goren. I figured you'd ask," Rinehart interrupted with a smile. "Right handed. When it comes down to Beltzer's fingers and Edwardo's hands, I can't tell. But the instrument," He held up a needle. "used to sew closed Maria's mouth shut is the same that is used in operating rooms. I'm not positive what took her eyeballs out, though. Maybe a pair of operating room scissors?"

Alex shook the disgusted look off of her face as Bobby thanked the ME.

"Let's bring in Nelson's friend. See if she can answer any of our questions."

---

Delia Warner was a short, thin woman with a lengthy mass of streaky blonde hair and feline green eyes. Her petite body had been wiggled into a short black dress and a small, bright green jacket; a piece of clothing that caused those wide cat eyes to brighten and twinkle.

"Why am I here?" she said with a pop of her vivid pink gum.

"We hear you do the mattress mumbo with Richard Nelson. Is that true?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Green eyes flicked up to Bobby in a gesture that might have been desperation. "Something wrong with Rich?"

"Maybe," Alex answered for her partner. "If you can answer our questions, we might be able to verify that little piece of information. Where were you the morning of Tuesday, July 16th?"

"Define 'morning'?"

"3am."

"Bed. Like every other sane person who has a job." Delia crossed her arms over her plump breasts and turned in the chair to face the wall. "Why do you care?" she asked with a flick of the eyes.

"The next day, 6am."

"Getting ready for my job. I work as a secretary for a big law firm. _Why?_"

"Today, 3:30am."

"Good Christ. _Bed_. Why the hell are you asking me all of these question?"

"If you wanna get your boyfriend out of the cell down the hall, let us be the ones to ask question," Alex lied snappily.

"Rich? _Richard? _You locked him up? I wanna see him!" Delia turned to face the detectives once more, slammed her hands on the table.

"You're left-handed," Bobby said quietly, causing the enraged woman to glare over at him.

"Oh, yeah? And how the hell do you know that?" she hissed.

"The ring finger on your left hand. There's a writing wart on it. And the muscle in you left arm in relatively stronger than the one in your right," Bobby explained as he picked up and examined the woman's perfectly manicured hand.

"So what?" Delia whipped her hand from his grasp. "I bet a lot of people are left handed."

"Only to 8 to 15 of the adult population in the entire world is left handed." Bobby held up his own left hand, wiggled his fingers and smiled. "You and me are one of the lucky few."

Delia snarled. "I don't see what this has to do with getting Rich out of jail."

"Oh, it has a lot to do with it," Alex informed, then switched her gaze from Delia to her partner. When he nodded, she stood. "That's all the questions we have. You're free to go."

"What about Rich?"

"What about him?" Alex paused, then smiled. "Oh, yes. He's probably at the hospital. We never actually had him."

She strolled out of the room with Bobby at her side. "To be the secretary at a '_big law firm' _she doesn't know much about the law and her rights," Alex said and sat behind her desk. "Probably just answers the phone and sits there, looking all pretty and stupid."

Bobby chuckled at her as he took a seat at his own desk. With a glance at the clock, he noted that their shift had ended hours ago. He let out a breath and started on his paperwork.

It was going to be a long night.

---

He fell onto the bed, fully clothed, as his alarm clock flashed over to eleven o'clock. With a sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and left himself drift.

The nightmare hit, tossing his peaceful sleep upside down. All he could see was black, all he could hear was desperate screams, all he could feel was fear. Where was he? Where was everyone else?

_Eames? Eames?_

He couldn't find her. Couldn't see or hear her. Where was she? Why wasn't she at his side like always?

Another scream. Was it his own? He couldn't tell. Just darkness. Never ending darkness. . .

Bobby jolted awake. With a cold sweat covering his body, he pushed himself up and stared over at the alarm clock.

4:13.

At least he had gotten more sleep than the last few nights. The detective slumped out of his bed, trudged into the bathroom where he peeled off his clothes and stepped into the blistering hot water of the shower. He let the water sooth his aches, wash the nightmare away. _Gotta focus, _he thought. _I have a job to do._

He and Alex had worked through the weekend, something they rarely did, to try to catch the maniac serial killer that plagued New York City. And so far, they had come up with nothing, zip, nada. He felt so stupid, so weak, for not being able to crack this case. What was wrong was him? Was he losing it?

Bobby shook his head, snapping himself from the self-demeaning thoughts and flipped off the water. He stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and turned to look at himself in the mirror.

God, when had he last _really_ looked at himself?

The dark bags under his eyes were deep and caused him to look years older than he actually was. The hairs on his chin had grown so long that they were now furry. Like some kind of strange, short-haired animal that had crawled onto his face and fell asleep. His once bright, brown eyes were now sad and droopy, and his mouth felt as if it was set in a permanent scowl.

Slightly disgust with himself, he pulled open the doors under the sink and searched for his razor.

---

Bobby Goren walked into the Major Case Squad feeling refreshed and ready for the day's work. He slid into his seat across from Alex, causing her to glance up. She stared at him, then beamed and said, "It's great to have the normal Bobby back." She handed him the cereal bar she had yet to open. "I know you don't have any food at your house," she added sarcastically. He grinned and took the treat.

Even the broken air conditioner didn't ruin Bobby's newly restored mood. He simply plucked the jacket of his suit off and threw it over the back of his chair. He glanced around the room, noticed that most everyone was griping or grumbling about something or another - mostly the heat. He then looked to his partner, saw that her streaky blonde hair was pulled into a bouncy bun behind her head - something she rarely did - and that she was down to her silky blouse. Rolling his shoulders, he pulled the little paperwork he had leftover from the previous day and began to scribble over that.

"Detective Goren, Detective Eames," a voice interrupted.

Bobby and Alex looked up at a red faced man who held out a small piece of paper. Thanking the man, Bobby took the parchment and read over it. A second later, he was on his feet, calling for Alex to hurry along.

He was already in the SUV by the time she had caught up. "What is it?" she questioned, nearly breathless.

"Nelson wasn't at the hospital at the beginning of his shift, he didn't call in sick, didn't tell anyone where he was. We gotta get to his house, quick. There's a chance he still might be there."

---

"NYPD!" Alex exclaimed as her partner kicked open the door to the small townhouse owned by Richard Nelson. "Richard Nelson, if you are on the premises, make yourself known!"

Nothing but silence.

But as the two crept towards the stairs, they heard a woman's voice sobbing and screaming.

"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"

Nodding at each other, they cautiously scurried up the stairs. They followed the crying and the yells down a hallway and to a closed door. Alex rounded to the left side while Bobby took the right. "On three," the male detective whispered. "One. . . Two. . . Three!"

"NYPD!" Alex hollered again as she and Bobby entered the room with a crash of the door.

Delia Warner stood in the middle of the room, slinging whatever she could get her pretty hands on. "Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!" she shrieked as tears poured down her flushed face.

Alex had to duck as a small blue vase flew in her direction. "Ms. Warner, put your hands in the air!"

As if she was deaf, the woman continued to throw things. Bobby holstered his weapon, moved forward, and grabbed Delia. He tossed her onto the large bed as gentle as he could and slapped the pair of handcuffs Alex had handed him onto her thin wrists.

"Lemme go!" she cried, struggling to break free. "Lemme go! I gotta find that bastard! I'm gonna kill him!"

"Calm down. Shh, shh." Bobby whispered, trying to sooth the distressed woman. "Tell me what happened."

"He left me! He just packed all his thing and left! He knew you were coming! I told him you guys were on our tails! Stupid bastard! That stupid bastard! Lemme go!"

"Where is he, Delia? Where is he?"

"He's got to kill the rest of them! Lemme go! I have to find him!"

"Tell us where he is."

Running out of energy, Delia began to cry harder, gasping for breath between sobs. "He's going to kill the rest of them. The sinners. He's got the fifth one now."

_"Where?"_

"Warehouse Pier in Red Hook. Get him. _Kill_ him for me."

---

Alex slammed her foot onto the gas and raced to safe a life. "Why is he doing this? Going out of his way to take the fifth victim to the docks?" she probed the on-the-edge-of-his-seat Bobby.

"He knows we have him. He _knows_ it. He's got to kill fast. He'll kidnap and murder the next victim at the docks, probably set her up in a park or something of the sort. A place were someone would find her quickly. He won't stop till he's finished. Hurry, Eames, _hurry_."


	7. Nightmare

-1Disclaimer: Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all it's characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger in the last chapter! It was just getting so long that I wanted to make another chapter. I'm also sorry that this chapter is so short. Anyway, I'll stop chattering! Here you go, enjoy!

---

They arrived at the warehouse in a little under ten minutes with no backup and nothing to protect them from the danger that waited for them inside.

Bobby was the first to jump from the vehicle and rip out his weapon. With Alex at his side, they both approached the large doors that lead into the old building. He didn't hesitate, didn't ask to wait for backup. He just used to broad shoulder to nudge the door open and slip in. The bright sun shined through the dusty windows and illuminated the dark space. The two detectives stared around, desperate.

Where was he?

"Eames," Bobby called in a harsh whisper. "You take the door under those stairs. I'll take the one at the top of them."

_Split up!? _Alex's mind screamed even as she shook her head as an 'okay'.

She separated from her partner and hurried to the door. There, she jiggled the handle, hissed through her teeth when the door didn't budge. Then stepping back, she ran forward and rammed her shoulder into the ancient contraption. It opened with a long and eerie squeal.

---

Bobby crouched under the only window that inhabited the dusty room he had entered, trying to make sure that if anyone was in the room besides him, they wouldn't spot him so easily.

He came upon another door a few steps later. Noting that the dust that cover most everything in the building had been knocked from it's handle, he raised his gun and opened the door. Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Bobby laid his hand against the wall, used it as a guide as he made his way through the twisting turns of the room.

It was then that it hit him. His nightmare. He was _living_ his nightmare.

And he was alone.

His ear caught the faint sound of movement to his right and he swung his gun in that direction, squinting through the black.

"Detective Goren," _his_ voice said and was followed by a raspy laugh. "I'm so glad you've come. I'll make sure your death is extra special."

---

Alex heard commotion above her head. She dashed out of the door she had entered and skidded to a halt in the main room of the old building.

_Crack!_

_Crack! Crack, crack!_

The familiar firing of a gun had Alex's heart jumping into her throat and her body slamming against the dusty floor.

"Eames!"

The desperate cry from her partner had Alex shooting to her feet and up the stairs from which she and Bobby had separated. She sprinted up the stairs while her mind clouded with one single thought.

_Oh Christ, Oh Christ. Please be alright. Please._

---

A/N: Dun, dun, dunnnn. : ) Chapter Eight will be up soon, so don't wet yourself.


	8. Death

-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all its characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me.

A/N: Dun, dun, duuun. Last chapter was heart stopping, huh? Lol. I'm having fun with this. If I get this chapter finished tonight, the story will be complete! Wow, I'm excited about this. : )

Reviews loved!

---

She pumped her hands against his chest as she fought back the tears that swelled in her eyes, blurring her vision. "Come on, Bobby, come on."

She pressed her mouth to his, blew in breath, then went back to pushing on his torso.

"That hurts Eames," his voice choked out sarcastically.

"Oh, good Christ, Bobby." Alex bit down on her tongue hard and resisted throwing her arms around his thick neck. "Where are you hit?" she asked frantically. "Where are you hit?"

She ran her hands over his body, searching for the warm liquid and the burning wound. She found it just below his collarbone, a few inches away from his beating heart. Trying to remember her training, she tore off her jacket and pressed it against the gunshot wound. "You're gonna be alright, okay? Just stay with me."

A smile played over his face as he let his head rest against the hard floor. He put his hand over hers and spoke, "Eames, you have to go get him. You have to catch him. He can't kill anymore."

"I'm not going to leave you."

"_Yes, you are_. You have to get him. He'll keep killing unless you stop him."

"_We_ will stop him. You just shut up until the bus gets here."

"_Alex_." The use of her first name came to a shock and the detective just stared down at him as he glared back at her. "Go. I'll be fine."

He brushed her hands away, replaced them with his own and pressed down hard. Shaking, Alex reached for the gun she had so carelessly tossed away when she had found her wounded partner and stood. "Where'd he go?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Out that door." Bobby's eyes darted to the left, signaling to a door that was cracked open, allowing sunlight to peek in.

Alex turned, and sprinted out into the summer sun. The brightness took her by surprise at first and she waited while her eyes adjusted. That's when she saw him. The figure in black that was running down the staircase in front of her. With adrenaline punching her in the gut, Alex took off.

"NYPD!" she screamed. "Stop running and put your hands in the air!"

She jumped the last four steps and pumped her legs harder when he didn't stop running. "Stop! Freeze or I'll shoot!"

The running man slowed, stopped, turned. Alex watched as Richard Nelson raised his gun to her and curled his finger over the trigger.

_Crack, crack, crack!_

Alex fell hard onto the wooden dock. She just laid there, the smell of blood thick in her nose.

Richard Nelson was dead and she had killed him.

---

The beeping of the heart monitor was soothing her worries. Alex stared down at her partner as the memories surfaced. She saw her own self in that hospital bed, attached to all those beeping and buzzing machines and wondering what had happened to put her there. It was ironic for Bobby to be in her place and she to be in his. She was finally able to feel what he had felt when he gazed down at her after that fateful kidnapping.

Alex watched as Bobby's eyelids fluttered and finally opened. He blinked, just stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he flicked his eyes to peer at her. "Hey."

"Hey. You feel okay?"

"As okay as you can be when you've been shot, I guess." He let out a small chuckle. "How about you? Are you okay?"

"As okay as you can be when you've killed someone." Alex sighed, dropped her head into her hands. "I'm just _really_ glad all of this is over."

Bobby reached up, took Alex's hand in his. "Thank you, Alex."

"Yeah." She smiled. "You're welcome, Bobby."

_Fin._

---

A/N: You like? Should I drag it on? Thanks for reading: )


	9. Epilouge

-1Disclaimer: 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and all its characters belong to Dick Wolf. Not me. : (

A/N: It needed an ending.

---

It was later found out that the whole thing had been a set up. Richard and Delia had plotted Bobby's death from the beginning. All little Delia had to do was throw a tantrum and go to jail while Richard got away, home-free.

That's how they planned it, at least.

Richard was dead and his girlfriend had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She would never see the light of day again.

And despite Captain Ross' orders, Bobby wobbled into Major Case Squad after being released from the hospital. He scooted up to his desk and smiled at the wide-eyed Alex.

"You shouldn't be here," she had scolded. "You need to be at home, resting."

"Crime never rests, Eames, why should I? I have to be here," he had simply replied back as he reached over to her desk, pulling over half of her stack of paperwork.

And without another word, Alex looked down to continue her work. And the world kept turning.

---

A/N: Lame, I know. Oh, well.


End file.
